by Joe Bunting |
The profession of writing has been around for thousands of years. You would think we would have figured out how to become one by now, right? However, the more you read, the more you realize no one seems to agree on how to become a writer.
Depending on who you listen to, becoming a writer is either the easiest thing in the world (“Just write!”) or a proposition so impossibly difficult that only a combination of talent approaching genius, luck, and years of expensive training (i.e. “Get an MFA!”) can turn your writerly dream into reality.
by Sue Weems |
If you’ve watched any one of George Lucas’s Star Wars films, read or watched any of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books or films then you’ve experienced the hero’s journey. I’ve walked my creative writing classes through these stories numerous times, helping them identify and emulate the story principles.
Part of what makes these stories so compelling is that they follow a character from their ordinary life into an adventure they couldn’t have imagined, leading to personal transformation.
Try one of our 25 hero’s journey story ideas to write your own adventure!
by Joe Bunting |
The best way to become a better writer is to write and then to publish your writing, whether you publish it on a blog, in a book, or with a close friend. It’s only by practicing writing, and getting feedback on it, that you can improve.
That being said, it never hurts to learn from those who have gone before you, and over the years, we’ve compiled a lot of excellent advice from the best writers on how to become a better writer.
by Liz Bureman |
For those who might not be familiar with the term, a Pyrrhic victory is technically a win, but the excessive cost undermines the sense of triumph. That means you win, but it feels like you’ve lost.
Sometimes the cost includes the casualties incurred in the process of achieving the victory, but it can also be the personal cost that devastates the victor.
by Robert Harrell |
s pickup one word or two? What’s the difference between pickup vs. pick up vs. pick-up? Today our resident grammarian Robert Harrell clears up the confusion around these terms.
by Joe Bunting |
While people have been telling stories and delivering speeches for thousands of years, the history of nonfiction book writing is fairly brief. Still, over the last 500 years or so, patterns have begun to emerge, tried and true ways of writing nonfiction books, depending on the author’s goals.
Read on to discover the 7 types of nonfiction books and the structures each uses to reach readers.
